Meet The President

Matt Barns, President

Matt's vast knowledge of home remodeling, and real estate, as well as his powerful family values and deep community connections serve him well in his role leading his company. Kitchen Plus improves the lifestyle and financial position for San Diego families through kitchen and bath remodeling in their homes.

Matt is a competitive sportsman who has combined his passion for sports with his commitment to children and the community. In 1983 Matt began the demanding, personal journey of mastering a martial art. He worked with intense dedication for five years to earn his 1st degree black belt in Chinese Kenpo Karate. The training and honor were bestowed upon him by Grand Master Ed Parker: famed instructor, former trainer and personal body guard to the late Elvis Presley. For the next 14 years Matt used the knowledge he acquired to teach children and young adults the art of self defense. He also was able to enlighten them with the personal discipline that is required to be successful in this study.

Since childhood Matt has spent an abundance of his free time playing basketball; he continues to play for recreation at least once per week. In 2002 his two children, Nicole and Nicholas, became interested in soccer; their interest is his interest, so he concluded that he had a new game to learn.

Matt took a systematic and passionate approach to educating himself on the game, just as he has done in his business. Once he had developed a good grasp, he began coaching his children and others in the recreational ranks. His dedication to helping others led him to a Board position in the local San Diego soccer league, a program that supports more than 800 children. As Matt expanded his knowledge of the game, he began coaching with success in a competitive division. His sincere passion for helping children not only drives him to help improve their soccer game, but to help each of them learn to be better individuals through hard work, discipline, team work and dedication.

His focused dedication to learning and his commitment to helping others have taken Matt through incredible life journeys. While attending college in 1985 he started working in the San Diego remodeling business as a part-time designer and installer. In 1987 he became a full-time designer and sales associate for a leading San Diego remodeler. As he worked his way up through the ranks of the company he realized that there was much more to the business than good design and construction.

Matt soon discovered that he was not really in the business of construction; but in the business of improving the lifestyle and financial position of his customers. At that moment he determined he had to learn more about the financial component associated with his customer's homes. In 1992 he obtained his California Real Estate Agents Sales license and began listing and selling homes. Matt continued to learn the real estate business and focused on the impact of home improvements and the elevation of real estate value associated with them.

In 1994 Matt was hired by Earl Gingerich, then owner, of Kitchens Plus. Armed with his understanding of the underlying principles of the remodeling business and his extensive knowledge of real estate, Matt helped the company grow from infancy to what it is today - the leading specialty remodeling company in San Diego. In 2002 Matt was promoted to Operations Manager and ran the company over the next four years. In 2007, Matt purchased the Company and he is now a 100% shareholder and serves as the Company President.

After 22 years of systematic dedication to learning every aspect of the remodeling trade and an intense focus on what his trade really means to his clients, Matt is fulfilling his dream of improving the lifestyle and financial position of San Diego families through the remodeling processes he developed at Kitchens Plus.